Category: Retreats

December 26-30th 2017 The retreat features living room style daily classes/workshops, daily craft talks, two readings, one holistic and interactive workshop, a keynote speech, group writing challenges, and a genuine community. 2017 Winter Retreat Facilitators Terrance Hayes Terrance Hayes is the author of Lighthead (Penguin 2010), winner of the 2010 National Book Award and finalist for the...

Winter Retreat Writing can be isolating. Creative writers go months without having a conversation with another writer. They become hermit creatives. Being a poet of color, who works in the South, and who lives in a country that hesitates to support the arts compounds this artistic scarcity. Not to mention, the cost of retreats can...

2016 Winter Residency Monday, December 26 – Friday, December 30, 2016 Santee State Park, in Santee, South Carolina First Annual Watering Hole Poetry Residency, held at Santee State Park in S.C., is dedicated to poets of color. This residency is open to everyone, but preference is given to members of The Watering Hole Facebook group. APPLICATION Application Fee:...

2016 Retreat Monday, December 26 – Friday, December 30, 2016 Santee State Park, in Santee, South Carolina Annual Watering Hole Poetry Retreat, held at Santee State Park in S.C., is dedicated to poets of color. This retreat is open to everyone, but preference is given to members of The Watering Hole Facebook group. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6oi1gkkN-Q] APPLICATION ...

If you want your world to change, watch Len​’s interview with Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie​ on poetry, the state of poetry, and her most recent book Dear Continuum: Letters to a Poet Crafting Liberation. We watch this over and over, when we need encouragement or direction. Many thanks to Len Lawson of Sumter, S.C. for proposing and executing...

We are proud to announce three need-based retreat scholarships: Norman Jordan Scholarship for West Virginia Writers of Color, endowed by Mixxed Media, LLC and The Lindsey Scholarship for Male Poets, donated in memory of George Rufus Lindsey. These need-based scholarships will be judged by an impartial 3rd party reviewer. (If you do not fall into these categories, we apologize. The basic parameters...

Tribe--a communion of poets reaching for a goal together, who accept, support, and encourage each other, who open safe spaces for trust, honesty, and risk, who love, love, love each other freely and forgive each other without hesitation, who uplift and hold accountable, who bring peace and stand in solidarity, who celebrate and mourn together, who adhere to the belief that when one of us wins, we all win, family beyond blood.

A beautiful review and remembrance of Stephanie Irby Suell’s experience at our 2014 Retreat. Thank you Stephanie. Your words mean so much and give us fuel to keep pushing towards the mark. Here’s an excerpt of “My Muse is Dancing Again,” a brief account of depression, writing, and the 2014 retreat. “At the end of...